Vancouver residents?

[icarus]

Is there anyone on my f-list who lives in or near Vancouver, Canada?

Comments

[kerri]

I just moved there... Why?

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

We just put in our ticket request for the men's figure skating competition at the Olympics. I started calling hotels... and Rochelle at the Holiday Inn warned me that 80% of the hotels space in Vancouver (all of Vancouver) is going to be held for media.

80%?

I checked around. Sure enough: the media is expected to take 20,000 rooms out of the more than 30,000 hotel rooms available (http://www.straight.com/article-154734/gauging-olympic-room-rates).

Rent2010.net (http://www.rent2010.net/) has set up a kind of Craigslist type thing already renting out people's houses and spare bedrooms to, you know, other people besides NBC who hope to attend the games-? I've contacted someone on rent2010.net already. But I'd rather rent space (at going hotel rates) from someone I know.

We plan to drive up from Seattle. Man... I thought this would be expensive but relatively simple.

We don't know if we have tickets yet -- and won't know until mid-December. Figure skating is a high-demand event. But wow, am I glad Rochelle warned us. Vancouver never had enough hotel space for the Olympics.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh. And it just occurred to me that we could meet in person before the Olympics so you can make sure we're not, oh, strange and scary. Or at least make sure we're your type of strange and scary.

Do I sound desperate yet?

[lexstar29.livejournal.com]

I used to live there and still have friends there so if you strike out I can certainly see if any of them have space. Just let me know when you know.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Fantastic, yes, I would appreciate that. We won't know until mid-December. I'll get back to you then.

[orca-girl.livejournal.com]

If she's not on your flist, I know that grooni lives there.

holy crap!

[kagyakusha.livejournal.com]

O_O I don't live anywhere near Vancouver, sorry. Other side of the country.
I was kinda hoping to maybe go to the Olympics over Reading Week in 2010 - because I thought it'd be cool, but my wedding is in June so I think we're putting the $$ towards a honeymoon instead.

I really hope you can find a place to stay!! Good Luck!

[libitina]

If you strike out of real people, I loved the Marriott in Burnaby. It was an easy walk to the SkyBus and it had a cheap foodcourt full of deliciousness in the basement.

[katuah]

I have some friends in Vancouver. I'm thinking of one couple in particular that own their own house and already rent out an apartment in their basement. It wouldn't be surprising if they were willing to rent out a spare room during the Olympics. Let me know if you don't have any luck elsewhere, and I'll get in touch with them.

[vichka.livejournal.com]

what f-list? lol :D jk

[kerri]

Wow, seriously??? I did not know that they'd reserved that many seats just for media.

That said, it will totally depend on where I am... Right now I'm in a one year lease, and I don't know whether I'll still be here or somewhere else, this time next year. This is also a one bedroom flat, and you may want/need more space.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that I'd have no problem with it, I'm just not sure if I'm going to be in the same place or if there's the space you're looking for. *g*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Uh. I can call, but 80% (20,000 of 30,000 hotel rooms in Vancouver) of all hotel spaces are booked for the press.

The nicer hotels in the area are completely booked for the Olympic committee and press.

Frankly, I'd love to book a hotel room. That was the plan. But Vancouver doesn't have the space. There are hospitality packages available, but those are running in excess of $1,000 a night.

[libitina]

Sorry I wasn't clear. I was hoping this one wouldn't be included in that figure because it's sort of a suburb of the city even though it's within the sphere of easy public transit.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Ah, gotcha. I wish. One of the major arenas (all the figure skating events, short track skating, etc.) is in Burnaby. That was the area I was calling but, hey, it doesn't hurt to check, and I will. Thanks for the tip.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Wow, seriously??? I did not know that they'd reserved that many seats just for media.

I'm completely blown away. You'd think they'd consider having enough hotel space for visitors, that the Olympic committee would make that a requirement, but I guess not.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that I'd have no problem with it, I'm just not sure if I'm going to be in the same place or if there's the space you're looking for. *g*

I don't know if we've got the tickets yet, either, but I'll get back in touch once we know more.

*shakes head at the Vancouver Olympic committee*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you.

By the way, I've had computer problems and have been limiting my computer time lately, but WG really appreciated your thoughtful comments on his situation with the "backpacking guy." Actually, he specifically asked about you, wondered if you'd commented. *g*

He's finally got his photos back from the fellow, and WG's decided to drop him. The guy continues to show his colors on the outdoor forum. This morning WG discovered a comment the guy made taking a swipe and WG's sil-nylon tarp (the guy felt a plastic sheet was much better). In reality, on the trail the guy had been thrilled with the sil-nylon tarp. They ended up camped in the rain and it gave them a shelter to cook under. The guy might have after the fact thought, "Hmm. A plastic sheet would have been better" but the way he phrases it, it's a personal dig at WG -- "I prefer a plastic sheet over [WG]'s sil nylon tarp -- and revisionist history.

WG's regretting the money he spent on that trip, but I'm convinced that he had a good time two weeks ago and he shouldn't let this guy revise his history and spoil it for WG, too.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Well, everyone could be based in San Francisco, CA.

It could happen.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Fantastic. I'd rather work with people I know. I'll get back to you once we know (mid-December) if we have tickets.

[heythere10.livejournal.com]

There's a tour company in Canada with a whole shwack load of hotel rooms booked... they're called Dash Tours. They're quite expensive, but if you're really stuck and you have the resources, they're always an option. http://www.2010tourpackages.com/ If you don't manage to get drawn in the ticket lottery, Dash will help you find tickets if you've booked your trip through them.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Thank you. There are similar hospitality packages offered by www.cosport.com, but they're far beyond our means. A 5-day stay costs upwards of $6,000, and that's not including the tickets. These packages also are very strange. They force you to go to Figure Skating, Curling, and Short Track -- and don't include all the figure skating events.

The Americans can't buy their tickets from Canadian vendors. We have to go through the official American vendors. This is because more (and cheaper) tickets are being made available to Canadians.

[heythere10.livejournal.com]

they're selling weird Olympic packages up here, too... with like curling, cross country skiing and other boring stuff, with one high demand event (like figure skating or hockey) thrown in. In my personal opinion, I think it's so they can ensure that SOMEONE shows up to all the boring events :P

Good luck getting tickets!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

The weirdest thing is the packages will include, say, the figure skating men's short program... but not the long program. That's like selling theatre tickets up to intermission, but you don't get the second half of the show.